Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Tyler Glasnow … there’s really nothing else to say, as he’s certainly making the Dodgers look great so far for investing in his future. Glasnow was dominant tonight and was backed by a pair of three-run homers that were more than enough to secure the 6-3 victory over the Twins and also the series.
======
While there was a lot of good stuff from today’s game, it starts and ends with Glasnow’s dominance. The combination of the Twins offensive struggles and Glasnow really being able to land his breaking stuff consistently today made it a worthy of a perfect game watch, much less a quality outing.
Indeed there wasn’t much to recap with his start cause there wasn’t much action. He struck out one in the 1st, two in the 2nd, and two again in the 3rd, but also gave up a bloop double to Austin Martin on a ball that James Outman made a diving attempt on and just missed.
That didn’t change much, though. Glasnow then struck out the side in the 4th, got two more in the 5th, and after Martin got a clean double this time, he also got another two in the 6th. He gave up his last baserunner in the 7th on a single, but also closed by striking out both subsequent batters.
Absolute domination, and it looked for a while that the bloop double might’ve cost him a perfecto: 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 14 K, 88 Pitches.
Tyler Glasnow matches his career high in strikeouts with 14 in 7 shutout frames, allowing just three baserunners. pic.twitter.com/ME24P2cM4y
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 10, 2024
Satisfyingly, after being lectured by Twins fans on booing Carlos Correa, Glasnow struck him out twice in the last two at-bats.
And again. pic.twitter.com/1CMaBT62Db
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) April 10, 2024
Is that good?
Tyler Glasnow of the @Dodgers is the only MLB pitcher to strike out 14+ batters in a game while throwing fewer than 90 pitches (since pitches were first tracked in 1988). pic.twitter.com/tjbYM2MpM3
— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) April 10, 2024
While that was entertaining enough, there was in fact a game going on in the other half of things, and Louie Varland was pitching. After facing the minimum in the 1st thanks to a double play, he escaped trouble in the 2nd after giving up a walk and single, and didn’t give up a run in the 3rd after a two-out double either.
The Dodgers finally broke through in the 4th, as Will Smith and Teoscar Hernandez singles set the table for Outman and his bat that’s maybe heating up. Outman smashed his second homer in as many games for a 3-0 lead.
Stay hot, James! pic.twitter.com/ft3whgCEDo
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 10, 2024
They didn’t have to wait long to extend the lead, as a Mookie Betts walk and Freddie Freeman single led to a Smith dong in the 5th. Surprisingly, it was his first of the year and put the Dodgers up 6-0.
That Will power. pic.twitter.com/F7ezotgIyh
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) April 10, 2024
With Varland out, the Dodgers stranded a single and walk in the 6th. After a quiet 7th, they loaded the bases on a pair of walks and an infield single in the 8th, but weren’t able to push anything across then either. The 9th also yielded no insurance, so the homers did all the damage.
——
With Glasnow done after seven, things went over to Alex Vesia, who got through the inning but ruined the shutout by allowing a no-doubter to Ryan Jeffers. 6-1.
To close out the game was the Dodgers debut of Connor Brogdon, who promptly gave up homers to Carlos Correa and Alex Kirilloff to make it 6-3. But he mercifully got the finally three batters to sit Evan Phillips back down in the pen.
Less than ideal for him.
======
The Dodgers are now 10-4, which is pretty cool, IMO.
The Dodgers will go for the sweep tomorrow at the way-too-early start time of 7:10 AM HT/10:10 AM PT/1:10 PM ET. It’ll be Bobby Miller looking to bounce back from a rough start against former Padres starter Chris Paddack.
